The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1887-03-05
CAUGHT BY A BIG CLAM.
A Thrilling Story Told by n Navy Lieuten
ant-Dangerous Situation.

The following swimming story is
told by lieutenant I'm the navy: Il
kept my eyes fixed on my companion,
Brown. who was acting in a singular
manner. After every few seconds his
head would disappear beneath the. water
in which he stood. then il would appear
again. He seemed to be strug ling
violently. As | approached him he
threw up his hands and cried out, sin
accents that haunt me still, For heav-
ems sake. Lieutenant quick. and help
mel | dashed out to him through
water up to my waist What is itP
What has hold of you?' 1 exclaimed.
Its big oyster or a big clam he
groaned. 4 was wading here and
stepped into it. l expect It's shell
closed, gripped nv ankle. and. to save
my life, l can't move; and the tide will
soon be over our heads here he added,
and with something almost like sob.
He had been struggling here for 10 or
90 minutes. had heard of the tridac-
nagigas. or monster clam, of this coast,
and instantly realized the danger of mis-
situation Courage. oil fellow"
said. iii stick by YOU. Here. hold this
paddle and the batchet." | then dueked
down under the water and with NV
Z 1tit tDOul HIS lOOl-
The huge mollusk had what might be
termed death grip on him. The crea-
lures shell was several feet long and of
proportionate breadth. and the weight
of the shell-fish must have been at least
500 pounds. The creature was attached
To the coral rock by grisly bysus as
thick as my arm. Raising myself, got
breath, then, seizing the paddle. thrust
the shaft Of it between the conyerginp
edges of the two valves of the shell, and,
using il as lever, attempted to pry the
shell apart But | could not open it
Brown. too. ducking down. seized hold
with his hands and pulled with all his
strength. but exerting all our power,
we could not release the monsters hold.
Again and again | threw INV whole
weight on the shaft OF the paddle. and
ut length broke it By this time the
water was up to my shoulders when
stood up. Fully realizing that what
ever | did must be done in few min
utes more, else the poor fellow would
drown. | snatched the hatchet from
Browns hand. and. diving. tried To cut
under the shell, to break tire cTeaiure's $
anchorage on the rock. With might
and main | cut and hacked-then rose
an instant for Dreath-then down and
at it again. But it seemed as though |
could not cut through the tough muscle.
Four times dived, and with frantic,
haste cut at those tough byssi lit
stlrsr' at length Brown cried. bracing
his weight upon his free foot and lifting
at it. Then, with final blow. the hys-
sus was severed. and the buoysncs of
the water aiding us, we dragged the
great molluSk-still fast to Brown S
ankle-back TO higher ground on The
reef Here the water was waist deep.
however, and looked anxiOusly around
for Mac. in the lakaioi To my mex
pressible joy he was close at hand. and
between US we lifted Brown. with his
now captured captor, into the canoe.
Even then we could not-both of us to-
gether-pry the valves of the shell apart
enough to release Browns foot, antil
with a knife we had reached i'm and
completely divided the tridacna-saw-
ing asunder the hinge muscles at the
base of the bivalve- 1t was truly gi-
gantic clam. and as a poetic retribution
upon it for the attempt on the life OF
one of our party. we ate portion of its
flesh for our supper. but found it rather
tough. Browns ankle was severely
bruised and wrenched. and he suffered
for many day from the yice-like grip
of the huge mollusk- ArgondRL